


Filled Crib

by TheBonesOfYesterday



Series: Empty Cribs [3]
Category: Jacksepticeye-Fandom, Markiplier-fandom, Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series), youtube-Fandom
Genre: Attempted Assisted Suicide, Attempted Suicide, Baby, Blood, Character Death, Child Death, Dead child, Dead kid, Death, F/M, Genderfluid Character, Genderfluid Darkiplier, Gore, Human Trafficking, Hurt, I'm Sorry, I'm going to update the tags every chappter, I'm just sorry, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Marvin - Freeform, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mentions of Child Trafficking, Needles, Nothing is Good, OC Baby - Freeform, Septicegos, Suicide, Torture, Violence, auditory hallucinations, first chapter is a liar, hallucination, im sorry, implied - Freeform, implied sexual wants, it lies, its going to get bad, jacksepticeye - Freeform, kidnaping, like really bad, mental break down, mentioned drugs, mentioned sex, this is not going to be good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-03-16 21:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13645017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBonesOfYesterday/pseuds/TheBonesOfYesterday
Summary: Dark is given something he never thought he would have again.A multi chapter Nightmare sequel/side fic (to understand what's going on you do probably need to read the first in this series.)





	1. Gifted

**Author's Note:**

> I posted a idea on Tumblr that I now have decided to write it. IF you fallow me on Tumblr and you saw what I am talking about you then you know in the next few chapters this is going to turn from okay to horrible. No one will be okay.
> 
> This is only kind of canon. I'm going to have to establish two timelines for The Nightmare universe. One for this fic and another for another fic I'm working on.

Dark woke to the sound of knocking. He groaned and pulled his blanket tighter around himself. He hoped that whatever gremlin thought waking him at this hour would go away, unfortunately the knocking only got louder much to Dark’s displeasure. The universe must truly want him exhausted, that is the only explanation for all these interrupted nights.

A more urgent set of knocks came at the door, but this time they were followed by a hissed voice, “God damnit Dark! Open the door, I’m not fooling here!” 

Ed. It was Ed Edgar. Of course, it was Ed Edgar. The man’s entire purpose in life seemed to be to torture Dark in one way or another, so of course he would be the one to wake the demon up at some ungodly hour. 

“Dark! Just get your ass up.” Ed’s hushed voice came through the door again.

Groaning Dark extracted himself from his perfect cocoon of warmth, and shambled his way to the door. He fumbled with the lock, and muttered every curse he knew under his breath. Finally, he swung the door open, “What the hell do you wa—’’

Dark stopped his words abruptly when he noticed what was nestled in Ed’s arms. Swaddled tightly in a soft green blanket was a tiny newborn, fast asleep. 

He turned slowly shifted up to Ed again, a dumb founded look on his face.

Ed shifted slightly, “She was born last night, but she’s missing an arm. Can’t sell her like she is.” The cowboy seemed to almost stumble over his thoughts. Dark had never seen Ed unsure in his entire life, “Normally I have methods for handling these types of things. . . But I had a thought. I know you were a mother some time ago, and I thought you might—You might take her on, if you know what I mean.” 

Dark wordlessly held out his arms to take the child, at which point Ed quickly passed the girl over to him. Now with the babe in his arms, Dark moved further into his room, sat down in a chair and begin to unswaddle the child. 

The demon took careful observation of her. Ed had been right; her left arm was missing at the shoulder. No matter. Dark moved on to count her fingers on her right hand, and then to count her tiny toes to which she made a small gurgled noise. Five fingers, ten toes. She was perfect, the most perfect thing Dark had held in some great many years.

“Her name?” Dark asked quietly, his eyes never moved from the perfect girl in his arms. 

He could hear a sigh of relief from Ed, “Thought I’d leave that up to you.”

“Maria Frances Fischbach.” 

Ed made a small surprised sound, and walked further into Dark’s room to kneel beside him, “That was quick. Any reason?” 

Dark ran his thumb across Maria’s checks and wondered at how soft they were, “Maria was my mother’s name, and Frances was the name of Wil’s grandmother. Lovely woman.” 

“Family names then. Any reason for Fischbach though? Thought you wouldn’t want any part of Mark around her.” Ed shifted himself slightly to have a better view of the baby. Of Dark’s perfect daughter. 

Dark couldn’t quite bring himself to be annoyed with Ed at the moment, “I told you William was Mark’s adopted brother. They shared a surname.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Ed chuckled slightly, “Somehow I thought than man had always been Warfstache. Suppose that doesn’t make much sense though.”

Dark suddenly had a thought. His eyes darted to Ed, and he drew his little girl closer to him, “Did you bring supplies?”

“Supplies?” Ed blinked slightly at to sudden worried tone in Darks voice.

“Yes, Supplies. She’ll need a feeding soon, and dippers, a bassinet, wipes—’’ 

Ed moved his hand to grip Dark’s shoulder, “Don’t you worry about that, Papa— No that ain’t right. . . Mama?” He watched Dark for any objection and then continued when he got none, “Mama. I’ve got everything you need.” 

Dark’s tension melted away slightly under Ed’s touch, “Are you sure?” 

“One hundred percent sure of it, Mama. Babies are my business, I know how to take care of them.”

Dark nodded his eyes turning back to the sleeping Maria, “She’s beautiful.” He noted that he could hold her in one hand if need be. 

Slowly, and carefuly the demon stood, as not to wake his sleeping baby, “I’m obviously not going back to sleep tonight. Let’s start baby proofing the building, and setting everything up. Set the crib up we need to lay her down, and after that go get Google, he should be Done charging by now. While you’re doing that I’ll be making some formula, and getting the Doctor. He can watch her while we work.”

Ed Blinked wide eyed at Dark, “Now wait one hot second! I have been working all day and night, I deserve to have a nice hot plate of supper and get some rest.”

The older ego barely paid him any mind as he headed out the door, “And If you hadn’t brought a baby home you could have done that. But you did, and as such you will not be getting any sleep tonight.” With that he was off to the Doctor’s room. 

Five loud Knocks later the Doctor’s door swung open, “I swear to God Shepard, if you wake me up one more time—Oh, hello Dark.” The Doctor looked bedraggled, and practically unconcise. 

The Doctor looked at him blearily, and blinked slightly he eyes clearing as he finally noticed what Dark was holding, “Why the hell do you have a baby?!” He was suddenly very awake, and very, very stressed looking.

“Meet Maria. The newest addition to our family.” Dark made a motion to indicate he intended to hand the baby over to the doctor, “She will be in your care tonight.” 

Dr. Iplier took Maria without hesitation, “Where did you get a baby?” There was horror in his eyes.

“You can thank Ed.” 

The horror solidified in the doctor’s eyes, and in a voice of disbelief he whispered, “That fucking idiot.” Despite that though he held the child slightly more protectively. He probably realized her being brought here was the best possible outcome for her, here at least the girl would be safe from the gritty outcomes most of Ed’s broods face. 

“Precisely Doctor. Also watch your language. I do not want my daughters first words to be ‘fucking Idiot.’’’ Dark then straightened himself, “I trust that you will be able to handle her?”

Dr. Iplier nodded, “Of course, but Daughter? she’s yours?”

“That is what Ed brought her here to be.”

the other ego nodded slightly, “This is going to be hard work Dark, not just for you, but all of us. A baby is going to be a major change in all of our lives.” He sighed through his nose, “Have you spoken to Wilford about this? I know he doesn’t really get a say, but he need to be made aware.” 

“I’ll make him aware of it in the morning doctor.” 

The doctor clearly realized he wasn’t going to be getting anywhere so he simply nodded. 

Dark turned and began to walk down the hall again, but called over his shoulder, “I’ll be back with the formula, and dippers.”

 

Dark knew one thing for sure. The Doctor was right; their world was about to change.


	2. Yellow and Green Basinet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings are that there is death in this chapter and descriptions of a mental break down.

It had been seven months since Maria’s arrival to their little family, and Dark had been right. She had changed everything. The egos had been a family before, but somehow having a tiny creature among them pushed them into roles they previously never would have filled.  Frankly, to Dark it was almost comical.

Silver had most naturally fallen into it, and spent every moment he had to spare on Maria. The demon thought that the hero might be slightly desperate for one family member that was innocent of any crime. Sometimes Dark felt sorry for the hero. He was certainty outnumbered, all of his other family members were what he normally fought against. 

 The others had also all taken to her in their own ways, even Google, who had Ironically become a favorite uncle of Maria’s. It was quite amusing to see the man killing droid, let himself, without complaint, be swatted and slobbered on by a tiny human. 

The Host read her bedtime stories.

Bim played with her.

Ed generally adored her, and the Doctor while unsure of an infant looked at Maria as if she had hung the moon and the stars.

The only ego that worried Dark was Wilford.

The man certainty loved the girl, he considered her his daughter, and strived to treat her as such. It even seemed Wil had a horrible fear that Maria might feel excluded due to her being adopted, his own adoptive parents having favored Mark.

The problem came with the fact that Wil lived in a world where Evelyn was alive, and death a myth.

There had already been incidents where one of the egos had caught Wilford doing something that would have killed Maria if he hadn’t been stopped, for example covering her face with his hand to stop her from crying. The first time The Host had been the one to catch him, and had nearly broken Wilford’s arm in rage. There was no use in explaining it to Wil, he simply couldn’t grasp the concept that anything he did could result in death, and as such he was never allowed to be alone with Maria.

Which was exactly what Dark was seeing to at this moment.

Dark had perched himself in a chair by the window, as he observed Wil play on the ground with his daughter. Wilford hovered over the little girl to kiss her cheeks and stomach, as she gleefully swatted him with her hand and giggled. Dark thinks he may have heard the other ego utter the phrase, “I got your tummy wummy.” Somewhere in the midst of his assault of raspberry’s.

In truth though, he had lost track of what they were doing some time ago, and instead allowed himself to just enjoy the feeling of the sun as it hit against his skin.

Moments like these had become treasures to the demon, and he hoarded them greedily. Things had changed for him since Maria’s joining. For one he now spent almost all of his time in the building, having become the stereotype of a work at home parent. Dark did all of his work within his in-home office, before he had been quite mobile in their realm preferring to meet his “clients” in person.

 That no longer was an option with little Maria here. The others all had their own jobs, and Dark would be damned before he left his Daughter in the care of the android. Google may be kind to the girl, but he didn’t fully understand beings made of flesh and bone.

The egos had all agreed not to let Maria be known of, it was too much of a risk in their realm. If she was heard of there was a near certainty that some idiot would try something. As such, no one but the Ipliers knew of her existence, not even the Septics, though that was mostly due to the Septic family containing a particular ego. Dark would never admit this, but he had had a nightmare of Anti holding his daughter.

It had also been hellish as of recent to explain why he wasn’t willing to meet with his clients. Most had taken it in stride and hadn’t questioned the demon, others had been very offended, and some even reacted quite violently. For those, Dark had seen to it that they were reeducated in their manors. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

“Hey Mama, I hate to interrupt this, but Wil here has to get himself to work.” Ed’s drawl came from the door. Since Maria’s arrival the cowboy hadn’t called him anything but that, and sadly a good portion of the Ipliers had caught on. Dark would never forget the moment Google had looked him dead in the eye, and with the gravest tone called him ‘Mama.’ The android had apparently thought that was his ‘new-user-designation.’

Dark made a point of not to look at Ed as he continued his prattle, “I’ll take him with me on my way to work, and drop him off.” 

Wilford let out a moan as if he was in pain, before he delivered one last kiss to Maria’s stomach, came to his feet, and picked up the tiny girl who immediately fisted her hand in his mustache to jerk on it violently as she giggled. Wil took this all without complaint and in response simply delivered a kiss to Maria’s hand, before walking across the room to deliver the girl to Dark’s waiting arms.

Wil delivered a swift kiss to Darks lips, “I’ll be seeing you later tonight Miss. Celine and Miss. Maria.” Now days the edge of insanity never quite left Wil’s eyes completely, “You behave yourselves while I’m gone.”

Dark quirked his lips holding Maria securely to himself, “Of course dear. You know me, ever the rule follower.” He didn’t have it in him to refuse the mad man’s delusions, and most days Dark played along with it.

“You know what they say happens to pretty girls that lie don’t you? They get punished.”

“Christ! Break it up you two. You can flirt later. Just—Get-- Get to the car Wil.” Ed’s slightly disgusted voice emanated from the doorway.

Wil huffed slightly, placing one more kiss on both Dark and Maria’s foreheads, before heading out of the room.

Dark thought he was alone now until Ed spoke one more time, “I hope that flirting ain’t going to come to nothing.”

“It won’t. You know it won’t.”

Dark could hear the cowboy laugh, “Good, cause I don’t want to let that good talk we had go to waste. The man can’t consent. Remember that.”

After a second Dark heard footfalls signaling Ed’s departure.

Dark let himself sag slightly, before looking down at the bright eyed Maria, “You must be very tired, darling. I think it’s time for a nap.”  Her response was a little gurgle.

Dark begun to walk back to his room, “You will be quite the talker one day, I can tell. Soon enough you’ll be walking and talking. I’ll hardly be able to keep up with you.”

In a few minutes, he made it to his door and entered into it his room completely dark except for the corner Ed and Silver had remodeled into a nursery.

The demon had to commend his fellow egos, they had done a marvelous job. The corner was plush with velvety greens, and soft yellows, and the finishing touch was Bim’s painted flowers and bees along the wall, giving the effect of a meadow. They had been emphatic that the little area have something more than the black that otherwise consumed Dark’s room. To quote the doctor, “The kid will be depressed before she one year’s old if we don’t fix it up.”  

Dark didn’t want to admit it, but as he set his daughter down in her basinet, he had to agree.

“Sleep tight, darling. I’ll be back in a bit, but Mama has to go and do some work.” The girl yawned hugely before batting her pretty eyes at him. Dark knew he was doomed when she finally learned to speak, she could ask him for the moon and he’d find a way to do it, “Mama loves you very much.” 

He placed a final kiss upon her brow, and headed to his office.

 

* * *

 

 

He was alone in the building now, with the exception of Maria. All of the others had gone off to their jobs, and frankly Dark didn’t want to know where The Host had gone off to. 

The demon hated it. He had learned long ago that when he was alone the crying got worse, almost as if the lack of noise made his mind want to fill it. He had worked out methods to alleviate this, for example he would turn on the radio to the maximum volume, and put shoes in the dryer.

Today though that was not working.

The crying was loud, _so very, very loud_ as it rattled around Dark’s skull, and it would not stop. It was echoing off every surface, and seemed to have multiple sources, and Dark couldn’t think. _He couldn’t think_. All there was, was screaming. Horrible screams and they wouldn’t stop, _they wouldn’t stop_.

 

His fingers clawed into his hair and clasped at his ears as he tried to block it out, but it wouldn’t work. _It wouldn’t work._

He should have gone to check Maria – _Evelyn. Evelyn. Evelyn. Have to find Evelyn_. – ages ago but he couldn’t think, he couldn’t do anything but listen to the crying. He was trapped.

* * *

 

Hours later the crying stopped.

Dark realized dimly that he was laying on the ground, and that his head was bleeding, he must have cut into his skin when he was clawing at his ears. He could also taste copper in his mouth. Funny, he couldn’t remember biting his tongue. Remember.

_Maria._

The demon was up in an instant and was racing to his daughter. He had to get to her, he had to get to her, he had to, _she_ had to, _she had to_ , she had to, she _had to_ , _had to, had to, had to._

_Had to._

_Had to._

_Had to._

 

Bursting through the doors, she crashed down beside the basinet reaching into it, “Maria! Maria—’’ _No._ Marias skin was cold. Cold as ice. She pulled her perfect baby into her arms, and cradled her close. _Why wasn’t she moving?!_

“Maria, Wake up now. Mama’s here.” She shook the baby, but Maria didn’t even blink. _How could she be asleep with her eyes open?_ There were tear tracks all down the beautiful girl’s face, Maria had been crying, “Mama didn’t hear you crying, darling but I’m here now. I’m here now.”  But Maria didn’t acknowledge her.

Another shake, this time harder, “Wake up! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, _I’m sorry, I love you, I love you, I love you, I’m sorry, please just wake up, wake up, wake up—_ ’’

Maria felt stiff in her arms.

_No. Please, God no._

_No._

_No._

_No._

_Please no._

_Please_

_Please_

_Pleas_

_Ple_

_Please_

_Pe_

_Plesa_

_ples_

 

 

Dark felt his aura explode around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry?????????


	3. He Earned It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings are attempted suicide and attempted assisted suicide. Please be careful.

Dark woke to the sound of a dripping IV, and drowsily he opened his eyes, to find that he was in the buildings in home clinic. Why was he here? He couldn’t remember, he was pulling an absolute blank.  He twisted in the be, only to feel a firm hand grip his shoulder, “Stop. You’ll rip out your IV Dark.”

Dark turned his eyes blearily to his right, to see Dr. Iplier siting at his side, his eyes red and puffy. He had been crying. _Why had he been crying?_ Dark couldn’t remember, he just felt tired so very, very tired.

“Doctor? What happened?” Darks tongue felt heavy in his mouth, and it _hurt_. He moved it around a little bit and felt stitching along the tip and down the side. How had he done that? He couldn’t remember.

Dr. Iplier looked like he had swallowed a lemon, and the other ego racked his fingers through his hair, “We found you about five hours ago. Your aura . . . It did some massive damage to your room. You were at the eye of the ‘storm’ so you mostly got out alright, but you lost a lot of blood from that tongue wound, and those head wounds . . . We’ll have to watch them to make sure they don’t get infected.” The doctor then let out a little sound that almost sounded like a sob, “And Maria. . . I’m—I’m so sorry, Dark.” The man then started to bawl.

Maria

Dark remembered now, he remembered everything.

“Where is she? Doctor, where is she?” The demon had to find her, he had to. Everything would be alright if he just had her, she would be alive, she would. “Where. Is. She?”  

Somehow in the course of this transition Dark had wrapped a hand around Dr. Iplier’s Throat. As he looked at the other ego he saw the man was still crying, but now there was fear in his eyes. Funny, he couldn’t remember when he decided to do that. Not of importance. He began to squeeze, and didn’t mind at all how the doctor’s blunt nails dug in to his skin as he tried desperately to escape, as his legs kicked behind him.

“Tell me where she is, Doctor. Tell me now.” Dark growled out as he watched his family member twist helplessly in his grasp, and turn a rather vivid shade of purple. No matter how pleasing the sight was at the moment he couldn’t kill him if he wanted answers, so he let the doctor go and took a small bit of satisfaction in watching the other ego gasp and wretch on the floor.

“S—Sh—she . . . She ha—had a . . . Seizure.” Dr. Iplier finally managed to voice as he dragged himself away from Dark, “It kill—killed her. Sh—had . . . Mul— . . .tiple seizures.”

“You’re lying.”

  Dr. Iplier finally managed to somewhat catch his breath, and dragged himself up onto two feet, “She’d. . . She’d been dead for a long time when we found you. At least nine hours.”

In the blink of an eye the doctor lunged forward and Dark felt a sharp pain in his neck. The demon drew back with a hiss, a hand coming to clutch at his skin. Suddenly felt as if he were about to pass out.  

“It’ll be better when you wake up next time, Dark.” Was the last thing the dark ego heard before he faded back into unconsciousness.

* * *

 

The next time Dark woke it was to the sound Wil’s voice as it softly sang, “Somewhere A Voice Is Calling.” His eyes opened slowly, to take in his soundings slightly surprised to find he had been moved into Wilford’s room, Wil himself sat in the bed with him.

The doctor had been right, everything was much clearer now. Not better, but clearer.

Thinking of the doctor, they must have decided after his interaction with Dr. Iplier it would be best for him to be under the observation of the only other ego as strong as him. Dark groaned, now that he was in a better state of mind cannot believe he had pulled that on the doctor. Of all the ill planed, _stupid_ —

He was broken from his thoughts when he felt Wil’s lips press into the top of his head, his arms pulling Dark to him till he was pressed firmly against Wilford.

For a few minutes they stayed like that, just finding comfort in each other, as Wil whispered the final lyrics of the song into the demon’s hair.

Eventually though the song came to an end, and there were no more lyrics to sing. Wil let out a little puff of breath, “The others told me you had a rough day, Celine. Said you needed to be looked after.” His eyes were soft, and so gentle.

He wouldn’t be looking at Dark like that if he had known what he had done. If he knew that the demon’s weakness had led to Maria’s death. If he knew that Maria had died alone and crying without her mother. He didn’t though, after all to him death did not exist.

Dark had a thought, a terrible thought. A horrible, horrible thought, but he supposed it would only be right. Out of everyone, Wilford had the most right to do it. Dark had failed him so many times, had ruined the man in so many ways. It was only fair that Wilford would get to do it. Before that though. . . Dark wanted to do one last thing.

“Kiss me?” Dark looked up at Wilford, who’s eyes instantly lit up. The mad man moved so instead of lying beside Dark, his entire body hovered over the other

“Of course.”

It was languid kiss, that lasted far longer than it had any right to. Dark clung to every second, desperate to convey what words could not. His hands grasped at Wil and tried to draw him closer, tried to show Wil what he wanted more than anything.

It was when Wil’s own hands started to wander a little too far that he had to stop the kiss, Ed’s word’s echoing in his head. Wilford cannot consent.

The dark ego steeled himself. It was time. Dark broke the kiss panting, “Wil, do you have your gun on you, love?”

A confused look crossed Wilford’s flushed face, not understanding why Dark decided to break them up to ask something so obvious, “Of course.” He ducked his head back down to lay a trail of kisses down the demon’s neck.

Dark shivered slightly at the feeling but pressed on, “I have been so tired recently, you know how hard it is for me to get a good night’s sleep.” He felt Wilford hum at his collarbone.

 _Trust me_ , “I think I would get quite a bit of rest if you shot me, love.”

Wil drew back slowly and looked Dark up and down, “It’ll hurt quite a bit, Celine. I know you like quick results but I think the doctor would be happy to give you something.”

 _Trust me. Relax to my words. Under my control. Surrender to me. Treasure me. Marvel at me. Everything you need. T R U S T M E._ Dark wrapped his arms around Wil drawing him back into the kiss, eyes closed, “Hmmm, but if you shot me I can stay in bed with you. I wouldn’t have to leave. You don’t want me to leave. . . Right?” Dark’s hand trailing down his body.

Wil groaned, and shook his head, no he didn’t want Dark to leave.  

The demon felt the mad man shift, and suddenly he felt the cold bit of metal against his temple. He reminded himself that he deserved this, that this was what he had always deserved. He kissed Wilford more frantically.

Wil whispered into the kiss, “When you wake up you’ll have a horrible headache, I’ll have some pain pills waiting for you, darling.”

Tears slipped from Darks eyes as his heart pounded, “That’s very thoughtful, Wil. I love you so much. I love you more than I am capable of.” He pressed against the muzzle of the gun, and waited.

Suddenly the door swung open.

“The Host tells Wilford Warfstache that Bim Trimmer requires assistance in the studio immediately.” The Host frantic tone rang out, and Dark felt the gun fall away. In that moment, he hated The Host more than anyone in the world.

With a resigned sigh, Wil rolled his body off of Dark’s body and stood. As he buttoned his shirt he asked, “What does Bim want now?”

“Bim Trimmer is having difficulties with an unruly guest.”

Wilford’s tone lit up, Dark’s request forgotten, “I’ll be off then.” Before Dark could even protest, Wil was out the door.

As soon as the door closed and they were properly alone The Host was at Dark’s side.

The demon growled as he glared up at the man, “How dare you—’’ He was cut off as the other ego slapped him harshly across the face.

“The Host would like to ask Darkiplier how _he_ dared to try and use Wilford Warfstache for such a purpose.” Suddenly his face was inches away from Dark’s, and he was snarling, “The Host saw what Darkiplier intended. He knows what Darkiplier was going to use Wilford Warfstache for.”

Dark snarled right back his blue aura spiking momentarily, “He has the right to be the one to do it. I deserve it, and he earned the privilege.”

“Wilford Warfstache earned the right to kill his most beloved? He has the privilege of unknowingly killing his most sacred?” 

“Sounding a bit poetic there, hmmm? Are we having a relapse back into The Author?” The Host slapped him again making sure to make impact with Dark’s injuries.

Dark yelped in pain, before being suddenly jerked forward by The Host, “Darkiplier will not do that again.”  Without warning the other ego droped the demon and Dark fell back on to the bed.

The Host let out a shuddered breath, “The Iplier family has suffer a great loss today. It cannot take another.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> National American suicide prevention hotline 1-800-273-8255
> 
> For Canada Call (800) 273-8255
> 
> For Uk Call Samaritans 111-123
> 
> You are loved and someone out there could not take your loss.


	4. Velveteen Rabbit

The next day Dark was cleared to walk. As soon as he was left alone and with this basic right reestablished, Dark wandered back to his room. The Demon tried to ignore his daughters’ cries, that had grown even louder in the passing days. He had wanted to see Maria, _maybe the cries might settle_ , but they refused to allow him to see the. . . body. Something about how it would be to “traumatizing.” Dark knew what traumatizing was, and it was not holding his daughter. No matter what state she may be in.

As these thoughts buzzed through his head, he finally made it to his door. Taking a moment, the demon steeled himself, and pushed the door open.

The doctor had been right; he had done quite a number on it. Everything looked as if it had been pulled through hell. His books were torn apart and scattered across the floor, his bed frame shattered, every soft surface ripped with stuffing drooping out miserably. 

None of this was of interest to Dark though, what truly caught his eye was Bim Trimmer. The other ego sat in the section of his room dedicated to Maria’s nursery, crying miserably. It took Dark a moment to realize he was scrubbing off Maria’s flower moral off the wall. 

“What the hell are you doing?”  
  
Bim startled, and spun to look at Dark, “Dark! What are you doing up?” The younger ego scrambled up and moved as if to usher the demon out, “What are you doing alone? Who let you get out by yourself?”  Bim’s hands wrapped around Dark’s shoulders and started to push him out. “Host said you weren’t safe to be alone. Come on, we’ll find someone to stay with you. Silver would be happy to I’m—’’

“What were you doing?” Dark refused to budge.

Bim floundered for a moment, and Dark felt his wet hands tense around his shoulders, “I’m . . . I’m cleaning up.”

“Why are you doing that?” Dark asked as he felt his aura buzz around him. He shook off Bim’s hands and almost drifted to Maria’s nursery.

The area had been destroyed. The wall looked as if it had lost a knife fight, Maria’s basinet now looked like a mass of crumple metal, and splintered wood, her blankets were in tatters. He idly though that he’d never be able to stitch them back together. Far too many holes.

He noticed something in the rubble, a tiny stuffed, velveteen rabbit.

Dark felt himself bend to his knees before the mess and then with nothing else to do he began to gently move the debris from around this single intact toy. Once he’d finally freed the thing, he brought it up and looked down on the little thing. The caramel colored fabric was soft under his touch, and its little black button eyes stared back up at him.

Dark felt tears escape his eyes as he pressed the little rabbit close to his chest, “Why are you washing away her flowers and bees? She’ll want them back, so it’s pointless to get rid them away. You already put so much work into painting them.”

He heard Bim take a shape intake of breath, but he was too busy running his fingers over the velveteen rabbit to look back.

“Dark. . .  Maria’s gone. She. . .  She died.”

Dark tucked rabbit under his nose to breath in the sent, the tiny thing had always been in Maria’s grasp, “I know.” 

Suddenly he felt Bim’s body press against his, and the show host’s arms snake around him. Dark realized the other must be kneeling behind him. When had that happened? 

He felt Bim’s shaking breath on the back of his neck, “Dark. . . I so—I’m so sorry. We loved— _We loved her so much._ It’s not fair, it just isn’t fair.”

“Why are you crying? I can fix this.” Dark said because he knew the world really couldn’t be this cruel.

“She’s dead Dark.”

Dark pushed the other off of him, tucked the small rabbit into his pocket, and stood, “So what? So am I.” 

Bim blinked up at the other, “What?”

Dark began to pace, thoughts forming rapidly, “Get out.”

“Dark, what do you mean—’’

Dark whirled around to face the younger ego, “I said get out. I’m sure you have other things you would much rather be doing.”

“No, Dark what do you—’’

He has had enough off this, crouching down he allowed for his face to morph into a cruel grin, “Maybe you would prefer to be in our dear Host’s bed.” 

Bim’s eyes grew huge, and with a pale face he stuttered out, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, did you really think we wouldn’t notice?” Dark tilted his head a little, “Do you think we wouldn’t notice how you crawl your way in there begging every night? We notice, we also notice how he makes you leave early in the morning.”

“Shut up.”

“Hmmm, have you ever thought maybe you’re just a toy?” the demon was on a roll now, he wasn’t about to stop, “The Host is rather fond of those, and what a fine toy you make for him. He can use you anyway he wants, and you’re so _pathetic_ you’ll just crawl right back to him, ready to spread—’’

_Slap!_

Bim looked up at the demon his breaths shallow; he no longer cried from grief but in anger.

This was the third time in two days Dark had been slapped. The demon stood back up, “Get out. Now.”

This time Bim didn’t argue.

Finally, alone Dark turned back to looking at the nursery. He was Dead, but he’d come back. So why shouldn’t Maria? 

Dark growled a bit, as he began to try and tidy up the mess. His situation had been different though, and the only reason all of them had made it back into this body was the house had guided them and given them the power to. Unfortunately, that is no longer an option, seeing as the house is now a part of him, and had abandoned most of its power to fit into the tiny vessel that was the DA. He needed more power.

And it couldn’t just be any old power, it had to be a strong magic. That just wasn’t just laying around their realm though, most of the entities Dark could think of were too weak for what the demon intended, or far too powerful to trifle with. Dark would have to kill whoever he decided on so he would have to pick someone he knew for certain he could take down. Dark would only have one chance.

He pulled the velveteen rabbit back out, and stroked it. Dark remembered a line from one of Evelyn’s story books, where a little toy rabbit asked if being real hurt. A toy horse had responded and had told the little rabbit that sometimes it did.

Nearly a century later Dark has come to the conclusion that the horse had been wrong; being real always hurt.  

Dark stayed that way for a few minutes, until a singular thought entered his mind, _‘Marvin.’_

The demon held the little rabbit closer, he had work to do.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review, hope you enjoyed!!!!


	5. Casinos and Drinks

After two days of nonstop planning, Dark found himself stood outside a back-alley casino. In truth, it could hardly be considered a casino. It was more of an abandoned factory that had been repurposed for gambling, and some pimp had applied neon lights to. At any other time, Dark wouldn’t be caught dead at such a low-class establishment, but it was a known hang out of Marvin.

Much to the demon’s disgust it seemed that the normally sweet natured magician had quite the gambling problem, but not only that, he was also a notorious cheat. That habit had left establishments like this to be his only outlets. All of the respectable ones would turn him away at the door. 

Dark had already visited seven of these “casinos” and his patience was wearing thin. Their realm generally only allowed for extremes, so each of his stops had been. . . uniquely trying. Frankly, after the last one he was never going to look at chocolate fountains the same way again. That being the said, Marvin had better be in this one. With a sigh Dark entered.

The smell hit him first; sex, drugs, grease, and alcohol.

Those scents perfectly indicated the scene before him. Among the machines, packed pool and card tables, all manners of . . . activates were going on. Dark could spot at least three drug circles, five tables that had been claimed exclusively for body shots, and if he followed his ears. . . The sounds did not lie. There was a man fucking a woman in the booth directly to his left.

Turning his eyes away from that disgusting view, he began to move forward through the “establishment.”

Dark could feel eyes beginning to burn into him. With each room he passed though the casino gradually became quieter. Dark was quite a well-known figure in their realm. In fact, he was probably one of the most feared as well, as such when he was noticed each individual fell silent, for fear of drawing his gaze. Quite annoying; he _hated_ silence.  

Thankfully though, with silence came a better ability to hear, which made finding Marvin nearly too easy. 

On the floor above him, Dark heard the distinctively loud voice shared by the Septic’s, “Ahhhhh, come on man! I ‘aven’t counted cards once tonight! You got to believe me. Would I lie to you, Henry?”  
  
As Dark scaled the stairs he heard the sound of a fist meeting flesh, and when he reached the head of the stairs he spotted the man he had come to collect laying prone across the floor, with a man twice his size standing over him.

“You would, Marv. You’ve lied in just about every casino in a two-hundred-mile radius.” The man rolled up his sleeves, “Which is why I’m going to teach you a lesson.” 

It seemed a good a time as any to intervene, so Dark delicately cleared his throat, “Excuse me, but I am afraid I need to cut in.”

The huge man, apparently named Henry, spun to snap at whoever dared to interrupt him, only to find himself face to face with the Demon. With terrified eyes the man blinked, “Holy shit.” 

“Dark? What the hell are you doing here?” Marvin slurred from his spot on the floor. One look at him and Dark could tell he was beyond drunk. Good, that would make this easier.

Dark smiled stiffly at Henry, “Apologies, I am here to collect my. . .  associate.”

The man stumbled back, trying to put distance between himself and the demon, “Take him. Do whatever you want with him, just don’t hurt anyone else.”

Dark, crossed the room to lean down, and hoist the smashed magician up off the ground, ignoring his groans of protest, “Very generous of you. Have a good day.”

With that he began to guide the drunk Marvin back out of the room and down the stairs, making sure to maneuver the other ego around the other patrons.

“What are you doing here Dark, I thought you weren’t going out anymore? No ones seen you anywhere for like ten months.” Marvin sagged against the demon, practically allowing himself to be carried. Dark realized he must be to intoxicated to really think about whom he was using to support himself.

With this in mind, Dark wrapped his arm around the other ego’s shoulders drawing him closer. _Trust me_ , “I’ve been operating from home for seven months, not ten, and as I said before. I came to collect you.”  
  
Marvin blinked owlishly at him, “But why?”

Time to sweet talk him, “I need your help. You are the leading expert in your field. I have something I simply couldn’t figure out without your help.”

The magician’s chest swelled with pride, “Well, why didn’t you say so? Marvin the Magnificent would be happy to help.”

Dark couldn’t help but admire how easy it was to trick the drunk as he lead Marvin out of the Casino. He smiled at the smaller man, “I’m so glad that you are willing to help me. I would simply be lost without you." 

Marvin’s face, already red with the amount of alcohol he had consumed, looked quite comical as he blushed and sputtered out, “You don’t have to thank me. I couldn’t leave you hanging like this when you so obviously need a professional’s help. It just wouldn’t be right. But . . . Uh, just what do you want me to help you with? I can’t do much without knowing what I’m working with.”

Dark grinned down at Marvin, he really was too easy to convince, “Oh it is far too complicated to explain, I’ll have to show you.”

Marvin squinted at him for a moment before giving a grunt of agreement.

Dark swirled his powers around them, “Perfect.” And they were gone.

* * *

 

Dark dropped them in the abandoned bunker, that over the course of the last few days he had spent an expansive amount of time readying for this moment.

Runes of all kinds, from all cultures had been carved into the walls, as well as painted on the floors and ceilings. Each of them with the sole purpose of containing power, or heightening it. Additionally, a single metal operating table sat in the middle of the room, with a crib to the left, and a tool table to to the right of it.

Marvin blinked, and began to stumble around sluggishly, tripping over his own feet.

“I don’t get it.” Marvin was rubbing his fingers over the walls, “I don’t understand, why do you need the same type of symbol over and over. . .?  I don’t get it, you’re going to have to tell me.” 

Dark hummed, readying a syringe while Marvin was distracted, “You’re very powerful, aren’t you? Absolutely bursting at the seams with it. You just don’t have any real control of it, do you?”

Bristling, Marvin turned to look at him, “Now hold on-’’ 

“Many years ago, I was much, much more powerful than you. But I had to abandon most of it for the chance to live.” Now he just had to wait for Marvin to be at his most vulnerable. Dark couldn’t afford a fight with something so valuable in the room, “What I need is your power. I _need_ more power, if I have that I can control it without issue.”

Marvin walked swaying towards Dark, “Now hold on one second, you can’t use my magic though it just isn’t—Holy shit.” Marvin had finally noticed what was inside the crib.

His now scared eyes slid back up to Dark’s, “Why the hell do you have a dead baby?”

Dark ignored the question taking a step closer to Marvin, “That’s where your wrong. I can. I just have to force it out of you.”

Marvin took in a sharp breath, “You can’t do that Dark. It’s impossible, my magic is my _soul_.” The magician started to try and back away hastily, on shaky legs, only for him to trip and fall.

“Not at all impossible. I just have to hurt you badly enough for long enough that I fracture it.” 

Dark could hear Marvin’s panicked breaths, and curses, as he desperately tried to stand again. It had been a true stroke of fortune that Marvin had been drinking so heavily. 

The demon approached the other slowly till he stood over Marvin’s panicked form, “You will be dying for a good cause Marvin, don’t worry.” He knelt down observing his neck for the best place to push in the needle. Dark had to have him asleep at the beginning, if he tried to set a fighting Marvin up it would be too difficult.

 When Marvin finally looked up at Dark, he had tears streaming from his wide blue eyes, “ _Please_ —’’

Dark plunged the needle in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review and tell me what ya think!


	6. Septic Family Conference

Marvin had been missing for four days now, and Jackieboy Man was starting to get worried. He knew the magician had gone out to the casinos a few days ago. Now, Marvin had disappeared for a day or two before, but never four, and he had always, _always_ called home at some point to tell the other Septics that he wasn’t dead.

No such call had been received.

“Are you _sure_ that he didn’t even text you or something, Schneep?” Jackie was currently sat in the living room, with all the other Septics, who each wore a similarly stressed expression.

Dr. Schneeplestein rolled his eyes, a puff of breath leaving his mouth, “Ya, I _totally_ missed it the last thousand times I checked my phone. Of course, I’m sure you gehirnverweigerer! What do you think I’ve been doing the last three days? Sitting around, playing on die phone? Maybe some candy crush?”

“Bro, calm down. He was just making sure.” Chase said, sitting on the floor beside Robbie. Jackie noted that the father looked as if he hadn’t slept at all over the last few days, or even showered by the looks of it. Robbie slumped against him making a rather pathetic sound, which triggered Chase to immediately wrap the Zombie in a one-arm hug.

“I think you’re all making too big of a fucking deal out of this.” 

Jackie’s eyes, as well as everyone else’s, snapped to Anti. The glitch had sat himself away from the rest of the group, and instead perched himself on the windows ledge, “He’s probably just off screwing a prostitute or something. He knows enough of them.”

Jackie felt something like bile rise in his throat, “Jesus Anti. He doesn’t do that. He just. . . he just has a gambling problem. He doesn’t do prostitution.”

Anti scoffed, “Just a gambling problem? The man’s practically a pathological liar, with a fucking heavy dose of kleptomania, and he’s an alcoholic. Who knows the shit he does.”  

Jameson waved his hands frantically from his spot on the couch and once he’d caught everyone’s attention, began to scrambled to write out a sentence on his white board. In a few moments, he finished and turned the board to everyone, _‘He hasn’t been home in four days, Anti. No matter what that’s weird.’_

Jackie nodded, “James is right. Marvin hasn’t called, isn’t answering our calls, and no one has seen him. Something’s got to have happened." 

“. . . Did you only talk to the ‘respectable’ casinos?” Chases interjected hesitantly, “You know he hangs around in some of the, uh, _scuzzier_ places. Those dudes might know something.”

Robbie shifted his face out of Chase’s arm, “He promised he wouldn’t go to the bad places anymore.”

Anti grinned, glitching slightly, and in a sing song voice said, “Pathological liar. What can I tell you?”

 “. . . Promised. You can’t break a promise.” The zombie scowled at the glitch now, not liking what he was implying at all.

“Do you know what a pathological liar is, Robbie? It means he fucking lies. All the time. I bet he—’’

“Anti. Enough.” Jackie barked out. They weren’t getting anywhere, the only thing that was happening was getting them all even more stressed. Jackie let out a sigh standing up, “As much as I hate to say this. . .  Chase and Anti are probably right. We need to check out those too.”

A distressed sound came from Robbie, but otherwise the room was mostly in agreement.

“I’ll start calling das casinos.” Schneep stood stretching, “But that bananenbieger from last time better not pick up. He was a feisty one, _very_ rude.” With that the doctor began to stalk off to his office. 

Anti then rose to his feet as well, “I don’t think this shit means anything, but I’ll start poking around. See if anything shows up.” And with that he jumped out of the window.

Chase’s face scrunched up slightly, “Bro. Why can’t he ever just use a door? It’s not that hard.” 

Jackie had to agree, and he had even had a talk with Anti about it. A talk that had ended in Anti flipping him off then trying to stab him, “Just the way he is. Anyways, why don’t you go and check out some of his old haunts to? He might just have fallen asleep under table or something and not gotten up.”

Jameson held up his board again with the new massage of, _‘for four days?’_

“Marvin is literally a magic man. Who knows what he’s capable of.”

Chase looked at Jackie for a few moments before nodding, “Sure thing dude.” With that he began the careful exercise of removing himself from Robbie’s grip. It wasn’t necessarily a physically taxing endeavor, but emotionally was an entirely different case.

The zombie let out a few weak sounds, giving Chase the most pitiful look imaginable, as he clung the man. Jackie decided it was only right to help the guy out, they all knew how will breaking Robbie’s eyes could be. 

Jackie knelt down to eye level of the zombie, giving him a wide grin, “Hey Robbster, you know what both James and you could do to help out?”

That had certainty caught Jameson’s attention. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the mute ego scoot closer. Okay, he had gotten James, now he just needed to land Robbie. Unfortunately though, if he went by the glare the zombie was directing at him that might be harder.

Robbie narrowed his eyes at the hero, “. . . Don’t need to look around bad places. Marvin promised.”

Jackie felt his soul die a little at that. Marvin better not be at one of those places, it would crush the kid. “Yeah. I know, Robbie. But I’m not asking you to go to any of the bad places.”

Robbie took a moment to process this, before his glare soften slightly. Which was a huge relief to Jackie; he didn’t think he could take sweet little Robbie looking at him like that for much longer.

Jackie pushed forward, “What I’m asking is for James and you to check around Marv’s room. He might have slipped in and grabbed some cloths or something before heading back out. Just see if anything looks out of place or if anything is missing, alright?” 

After a moment Robbie nodded, finally released Chase, and then stood himself. The Zombie began to walk at a slow pace towards Marvin’s room, snagging James’s hand along the way, taking him with him.

Chase thanked him before heading out as well, leaving Jackie completely alone.

With a puff of breath Jackie got back up, and headed out. He’d be looking through the back alleys, lord knows they had found Marvin there often enough.

* * *

 

A few hours into the search and nothing. Jackie had found absolutely nothing. Sure, there had been some false calls, but nothing that had lead up to anything. The only even slightly interesting thing that had happened was when he spotted that kid in full bodied cat costume. Still not useful though. Funny. Slightly ironic, but not useful. 

Suddenly he was broken from his thoughts when his phone began to ring. Pulling it out he checked the caller ID. Schneep.

Hurriedly he answered it, “You got something, man?”

Schneep’s voice sounded frantic as if broke through the call, _“Do I have something? Oh, I have more than something. Der bananenbieger answered, and guess what he told me? Marvin was taken from his casino by the one and only Darkipler!”_

Jackie felt his blood run cold, “What?”

_“Ya! That’s what he said. Dark apparently came by three days ago and rescued Marvin from a beating, and then just left with him!”_

This wasn’t good. Why would Dark need Marvin anyways? He’d never shown interest in the magician before. “Thanks, Schneep. Call me if you get anything else.” With that he hung up on the doctor, and against his best judgment swiped though his contacts till he got to a particular number. After a moment of hesitation, he clicked the call button, and pressed the phone to his ear. 

In a few moments Anti’s voice picked up, _“Yo?”_

“It was Dark. He took Marv from one of the casinos three days ago. I need you to start following Dark’s trail, I know you can find him.” 

There was silence on the other line for a second before, with an insane laugh, Anti answered, _“Now this I can fucking get behind.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to review, they make me happier than anything!


	7. Five Fingers Ten Toes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS PLEASE USE DISCRETION BEFORE READING THIS CHAPTER. Im probably over reacting but there is some bloody stuff in this one. Please be careful alright?

It had been three days since Dark had taken Marvin from the casino and it wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wa _sn’t_ _working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t workin SHE’S CRYING g. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It SHE’S CRYING wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working._ _It wasn’t working. It wasn’t SHE’S CRYING working. It wasn’t working. SHE’S CRYING It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. SHE’S CRYING. SHE’S CRYING It wasn’t working. It wasn’t SHE’S CRYING working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working_. _It wasn’t wo SHE’S CRYING raking. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. SHE’S CRYING It wasn’t working. SHE’S CRYING._

It wasn’t working. 

Dark was sat in the corner of the bunker, with the only sound to break him from the mantra in his mind being Marvin’s constant shivers, wines, and pathetic moans. He could feel his mind slowly slipping. He could feel it. It was slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Sli _pping_. _Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping. Slipping._

He had torn the Magician to shreds. _Dissected him. Beaten him. Drugged him. Cut him. Shocked him. Striped him. Humiliated him. Sliced him. Broken him. Gutted him.   Reduced him. Punished him. Dehumanized him.  Crushed him.  Shattered him. Strangled him. Warped him. Branded him. Mutilated him.  Sawed him. Burned him. Starved him._  Dark had tortured the Septic ego till he was nothing but a broken, sobbing, shell of himself, and still it wasn’t working.

He had gained access to the magician’s magic in the first day.

He had, _the torture had,_ broken the magician’s magic, _his soul,_ in too little shards. Into tiny, tiny shards. And Dark had been using them as fuel to search for Maria’s soul in the void. It should be working. He knew his way around the void. A part of him had _been_ of the void once. He just needed the power boost to access it again, and he had that power boost. He had it. He also had managed to enter the void, but he c o u l d n ’ t f i n d M a r i a.

It wasn’t working. _It wasn’t working_. 

Dark didn’t understand. It should be working. He had done everything right. _He had done everything right_.  The only problem was he couldn’t find Maria.

The demon had searched everywhere. He had looked through every last nock and cranny, he had scoured every inch of the void, and he hadn’t even found a trace of her.

Nothing. He had found nothing.

So now the Great Demon Darkiplier, was sat, huddled in a corner, listening to the pained whimpers of a broken man. Was that Marvin? He wasn’t sure. It might be him making those sounds. It might be both of them. No matter who it was though he wanted it to stop. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it to stop _now_.

“Shut up.” The whimpering continued.

“I said shut. up.” He didn’t shut up.

Dark was on his feet stalking across to the surgical table to snarl down at Marvin’s bloody, brussied, beaten, broken, naked form, “I said shut up." 

Instead of shutting up the Magician instead, let out panicked warbles, straining to move away from Dark, causing blood to slosh off the table, creating a horrible splashing sound.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That’s not what he wanted at all. He just wanted quiet. He just wanted it to make everything to go silent. He wanted all the whimpering, all the dripping, all the _crying_ just to stop. It needed to stop. It needed to stop.

Dark felt his hands close over Marvin’s wet, unmasked face and begin to suffocate him, “I said shut up, shut up, shut up, shut _up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up—’’_

“Holy fucking shit.” 

Dark whirled, hardly noticing the gasps of breath Marvin took in as he did so, and spotted a figure in the shadows.  After a moment, the figure slunk out to reveal Antisepticeye.

The glitch stared at Dark with something close to horror. Dark wasn’t sure. It could have just as easily been disgust.  
  
Anti’s eyes flicked over the room, taking in every last inch. In the back of his mind Dark was thankful Anti would only be able to spot the crib, and not Maria herself from where he was standing. The glitch approached slowly, and Dark caught a gilt of silver flash, as Anti shifted his knife in his hand, “Holy shit Dark. You’ve gone completely fucking insane.”

The glitch spoke the words with wide eyes and intake of breath, “You. . . you’ve actually snapped. Out of all the people to . . . Snap like this I never expected your bitch ass to be the one to do it. Look at you. . . You look. . . Holy shit.”

He couldn’t fight Anti.  Not with Maria in the room. But how was he not going to fight Anti? He didn’t know. He didn’t know. 

Dark moved his body with Anti’s careful to keep between him and the crib, “How did you find me?”

After a moment the glitch snorted, grinning sharply, “Oh Darky, a magician never reveals his secrets. Speaking of magicians. . . Why the fuck did you steal mine?” On the last words Anti took a few sharp, aggressive steps forward.

Stepping back quickly, Dark growled out, “I need him.”

“You ‘need him?’” Anti nearly lurched forward, “You need my _brother_ for what?! As your torture fantasy bitch? Were you trying to fuck with me? If that was what you were going for, what kind of fucking idiot are you?! You know I can track your ass down. You know I can.”  
  
Against his better judgment, Dark snarled and stepped towards Anti, “I know what you _can_ do Anti, and I know what you _can’t_. Which at the moment seems to be getting to the point. There is a reason you haven’t attacked me yet.” 

Anti would point his knife at Dark, but otherwise become completely still, “I need to get Marvin to a hospital. If I fight you now God knows how fucking long that would take. Marvin might _die_ before we finish. Hand him over now, and I won’t kill you tonight. I’ll give you some time to sleep, and eat. You don’t look like you’ve been doing much of that for the last few days.” A cruel smirk would cross his lips, “What were you so into torturing Marvin that you forgot to?”

“I need him.” 

A snarl flew past Anti’s lips his face morphing into something animalistic, “I don’t fucking have time for this.” And suddenly the glitch launched himself at Dark, his blade raised high.

Dark’s Aura flew up around him like a shield, throwing Anti across the room, but the Glitch was back up in a second and was flinging himself at the demon. 

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! This wasn’t right, this wasn’t right. As Dark was forced to stubble back, as the blows intensified. He couldn’t fight back. He couldn’t. If he did the room would be destroyed, and Maria was in the room. M a r i a w a s i n t h e r o o m.

Dark let out a yelp off pain as Anti finaly made it through his aura and with a cackle sliced his knife across Dark’s chest, “You aren’t much fun tonight, Dark. Aww, What? Did you tire yourself out _torturing my brother you strapped to a fucking table?!_ ” 

The demon allowed one of Anti’s attacks to throw him back, hoping to lure Anti further away from the crib, but as he made impact on the ground he felt something snap. _Shit_ , he should have known that was a bad idea. He should have known. This body was far, far too old to roughhouse with, and now he had a broken hip.  
  
Despite that though for the first few seconds he had been happy that he had allowed Anti to do it. He had almost thought it had worked, that Anti would leave Maria’s area. But it didn’t. It didn’t work. Dark realized this once he saw the smirk on Anti’s face, that the glitch had heard the bone break, and he knew Dark wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere. Worst of all Dark realized that being thrown across the room had only allowed for Anti to have a clear view of the contents of the crib.

 _Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look._  

He looked. 

Anti’s face morphed in surprise, his eye brows quirking, “. . . So not only do you have torture kink or some shit, but you also get off on dead babies. . .?  Dark, you are really fucking sick.”  
  
The demon cursed under his breath. He couldn’t stand, he couldn’t fight, he couldn’t do anything, “Leave her alone, Anti. She’s not important to you.”

Anti’s eye brows went back into his hairline at the sound of desperation in Dark’s voice. After a moment, he reached into the crib and picked Maria up, cradling her to his chest, “Nah, she doesn’t mean shit to me. But you? Judging by the look you’re giving me this dead bitch means a fuck ton to you.”

Dark could feel his heart pounding in his chest, “Let her go Anti! Just take Marvin and get out!” He began to drag himself towards the Septic only to collapse, his head spinning. He hadn’t drunk anything since he’d started his work on Marvin three days ago, he realized. 

Anti grinned, “Shit Dark. You are pathetic, aren’t you?” He then look down at the baby in his arms and forced a mock serious expression, bringing a finger to his lips, “But we mustn’t be too loud. The baby is sleeping after all.”  
  
“Just put her down. You can have anything. Just put Maria down, just please put her down. Please you. . . You can do anything. Just lay her down.” 

“Oh, you want me to put _Maria_ down?” Anti cackled rocking Maria in his arms, “I can put her down.” In a sudden flash of movement Anti had hurled the tiny baby across the room, and her body hit the wall with a sickening crack.

 _No_.

An agonized sound left Dark’s throat, “Maria? Maria?” He could only think of the tiny body crumpled on the ground. He couldn’t think about Anti. Or Marvin. Or Ipliers. Or Septics. All he could think about was the tiny broken body laying twenty feet away from him.

He had to get to her.

“Maria?” She was dragging himself. The room was spinning, but Maria needed him, she _needed_ her. “Maria, don’t worry Mama’s on her way! Mama’s coming, Mama’s coming _I promise_.” 

She could feel her fingers, bleeding from the effort to drag their body to Maria, but it didn’t matter she just had to get to Maria. _Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria._

_Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria._

_Maria. Maria._

_Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria._

_Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria_

_Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria._

Maria.                                                                             

She had finally made it to Maria’s little body, and she wanted to die. She wanted to die. 

Maria’s little body was broken and twisted sagging limply on the ground. She collapsed beside her little girl, pulling her baby into her arms.

“Baby doll. . . Wake up. Mama’s here. She’s here. I’m here. I’m going to fix you. Remember? I promised. I promised I would always protect you. No matter what. . . Maria, wake up. I . . . wake up. Please. I love you. I love you. I love you. Just please wake up. Please wake up. Please wake up. I was fixing you.”

No movement. No breath. No life. Just a broken baby and a broken mother. 

In that moment, she realized that she couldn’t fix Maria now. Even . . . Even if she found her little soul in the void. . . She couldn’t fix her. She would stay broken with no way of healing. Just like her.

There was no way to save her baby.

Pulling the small body close to her, she began to sob. She sobbed for the baby. She sobbed for her family. She sobbed from the pain. She sobbed for herself. She sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed.

Why wouldn’t the crying ever stop?  
  
She felt a presence kneel down behind her, “. . . You. . . I’m so . . . What the fuck Dark? What the fuck is this? Or should I call you Mama? Fuck if I know. I’m confused as shit.” 

Oh. That’s right. Anti was here wasn’t he? 

“Hey. Dick wad. Pay attention to me when I’m talking to you.” She felt something sharp press against her back. Oh. Anti was threating her, wasn’t he? He was going to cut her if she didn’t pay attention? In that moment, she made a choice.

She quickly twisted to face the glitch and lurched her entire body into his blade, feeling the cold metal slide into her stomach. That hurt more than she had thought it would. That’s okay. She deserved to hurt. She had let her baby down, she had let her baby die.

“Holy shit! Holy shit! What the fuck Dark?! Fuck! Did. . .  Did you just use me to commit fucking suicide?!”

He was far too loud for her tastes. Far, far too loud. Trying to ignore his cursing, she rolled back over, pulling little Maria back into her arms. Such a beautiful baby. . . She decided to count her fingers and toes one last time.

One finger, two finger, three finger, four finger, five finger.

Five perfect fingers.

One toe, two toe, three toe, four toe, five toe, six toe, seven toe, eight toe, nine toe, ten toe.

Ten perfect toes. 

Dark decided it might finally be time to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey? Sorry for this chapter. Feel free to scream at me in the comments. Actually please, please, please comment. Makes my day.


	8. Not My Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! sorry for being gone for a while! Some stuff has just been going on IRL and so . . . yeah. Hope you like the chapter though. By the way I love reviews! REALLY motivates me.

After making the call Jackie decided that it was time for him to pay a visit to the Iplier’s, and now he was standing on their doorstep wondering just how to start up this conversation. Really? How? Especially when the Iplier family contained the type of people that it did? Jackie might be a hero, but he did not want to end up surrounded by people like them if this went wrong. 

After a few moments of staring at the door he pulled out his phone and dialed in a number, before putting it to his ear and waiting for his one ally on the other side of the door to answer the phone. After the third ring the call was answered, “Hey, sorry Jackie, but I can’t talk right now-”

“I’m at your door Silver. I need to talk with you and the rest of the Adams family.” 

It was silent on the other end for a moment before an exhale of breath came from the other side, “. . . Damn Jackie. You really know how to back me into a corner. I’ll come let you in, in a sec.”

True to his world Silver was down only moments later, cracking the door open hesitantly, “Listen man, I would love to hang out or do League stuff with you but my family is dealing with some-’’

But Jackie decided he would make it easier for everyone and just push his way in, ignoring the indignant squawk that came from his friend, “Convent because my family is going through some stuff too. Do you know where Dark is?”

Silver froze in his place, “. . . Why are you asking?” 

“Because he’s the last person we know was seen with Marvin.” Jackie had a very limited understanding of the Iplier’s buildings layout, but he knew where the kitchen was and chocolate ice cream was calling his name, “You know? My younger brother Marvin? Wears a cat mask, likes cheap whiskey, and cheats at cards? He went missing a few days ago.”

“Funny.” A deep southern voice drawled from a doorway, “Dark just so happened to go missing round abouts the same time.” Ed Edgar steeped out his eyes intense, “You wouldn’t be suggesting Marvin had anything to do with that?”

Jackie let out a hiss of breath, stepping back a bit, Ed was one of the Ipliers he was least looking forward to seeing, “Hi Ed. Looking redneck as always, but no. I wasn’t. I was suggesting Dark had something to do with Marvin’s disappearance.”

Ed took a step forward to make up for the one Jackie took back, “You see any other day I would agree that Dark is a more likely suspect, but you see, I don’t today. Dark ain’t in the state to be coming up with any plans.”

Jackie felt his brows furrow, “Not in the state? What do you-’’ Suddenly Silver was sliding himself in-between Jackie and Ed. 

“Hold on Guys. . . Let’s just cool down for a second. Think you can do that?” Silver put a hand on both men’s’ chest and pushed them apart, “Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”

Jackie snorted, not quite understand why Silver was diverting them, “Coincidence? Come on, Silv, you know coincidences never happen with people like us.”

Silver was about to respond when the sound of footsteps came from another hall. The other hero winced, “Can-. . . Can we move this to another room please. . .?”

But it was too late and the other Iplier was already there, and it looked like it was the show host one. But instead of his normal pristine look he looked like he had just rolled out of bed sick, and then been beaten with a stick, “Guys. . .? Why are you. . .Oh. Hi Jackie. What are you doing here?”

Ed glanced over at the show host, concern written on his features, “Jackie has just come asking after Dark. Said his brother’s gone missing too.”

Bim. That’s right, his name was Bim Trimmer. Jackie nodded, “Yeah, and Dark was the last person seen with-!”

Jackie suddenly had a face full of one Mr. Trimmer, who had his fist curled up in the hero’s shirt as he looked up at the man with wild, desperate eyes, “Dark?! You’ve seen Dark?!”

A startled sound left Jackie as he was jerked down, but after a moment he began to gently detach Bim from himself, “No, I haven’t seen him. But someone else did a few days ago. He saw him with my brother. My drunk brother.”

Bim let out a little confused sound, “Why would Dark be with your drunk brother?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m here.”

Silver cleared his throat again, “I really don’t think-’’

“Why are you so determined to stop this conversation Silver? Ain’t you even a little suspicious?” Ed’s eyes scanned over the hero, as if he was trying to figure out just what he was thinking. 

Silver winced, drawing back slightly, “I’m just trying to keep everyone thinking rationally.”

“It sounds like your coverin’ for someone.” Ed persisted leaning into Silver’s space, “Now why would you be doing that?”

Silver squirmed where he stood, irritation lacing his voice, “Why are you interrogating me? Host is the one that knows everything!”

Bim’s voice was coarse, “You know Host went silent on us.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t be asking so many questions.” Jackie noticed how Silver was edging his way towards a door, and placed himself in the way.

“Silv? What are you doing?” 

Silver let out a groan, rubbing a hand over his face, “I honestly have no fucking clue what Dark is doing with Marvin.” 

Bim stepped closer, his eyes wide, “But you do know something about Dark. . .?” 

“You where siting with the body when Dark disappeared. . .” Ed’s voice was quiet, “You gave her to him didn’t you?”

Silver shuffled, “He said he had a plan to save her. What was I supposed to do. . .?

Ed took his hat off and ran a hand though his hair, “Well, Christ, for one thing you should ask him what the damn plan is!”

“He wouldn’t tell me! And what is wrong with giving Dark his own child?!” Jackie was growing more and more confused by the second, and frankly didn’t know what to do at this point. Also, it seemed like the Iplier’s had forgotten his presence.

“It’s wrong when you know how Dark is, and know that he has been on the verge of suicide for the past few days! When you know- Silver, you. . . You are so, so stupid sometimes. I just want to smack you.” Bim’s sleep deprived eyes were filled with filled with fire until suddenly it all drained, like a switch had been flipped, and terror filled his eyes instead, “Oh God. Oh God . . . Dark’s out there alone with Mari- with the body. . . Anything could be happening to him.” 

Jackie cleared his throat delicately, and every Iplier’s head in the room snapped to look at him. 

As if he were in class, Jackie rose his hand, “Um, excuse me but Dark had a kid? A dead kid? What. . .? Someone gave the demon a child? Like a . . . actual child? Who thought that was a good idea.”

Ed scowled slightly, straightening his hat, “Dark is a mighty fine parent.”

“So, you. You were the one that gave edgy grumpy cat a kid and thought it would turn out well.”

Bim gave Jackie a look that could curdle milk, “It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t. We- We just have really. . . really bad luck.”

Jackie wasn’t quite certain if that was truly the only aspect to this situation, but he let that one go, “Anyways. . . Why would Dark be with my brother? I mean . . . sure he does magic and stuff, but he’s never brought anything back to life? And believe me I’ve tried to get him to when my goldfish died.”

Ed’s brow went up, “You tried to make your brother bring your gold fish to life?”

Jackie shifted slightly, “That’s not the point. Marvin can’t do that so why-’’

Jackie’s phone cut him off, ringing loudly through the now silent room. Jackie pulled it out slowly and found that it was Anti’s number, with a hint of dread he answered the phone and put it up to his ear, “Hey bro.” 

“Heeeeey Jackie! Uhhhhhh. . .Before you get pissed I want to point out that I found Marvin. So, at the end of the day I did a good thing, and should not be locked out of the house for bad behavior or-”

“You found Marvin?! Is he alright?!”

“Uh, going with a strong no on that one. More like three and a half quarters dead. But I got him to the hospital and that is not the main point here-”

“How is that not the main point-?!”

“Because this time it isn’t. The point is, that I didn’t try to kill him. It just kind of happened? Really it was more him than me. I mean yes. I did hold the knife, but that was all I did! And I know it looks suspicious because I've been taking about carving edge bitch up for like fucking ever, but really, I did not contribute in this killing like at all.”

Jackie felt his blood go cold, “What do you mean?”

Anti took a deep breath on the other side of the phone, “Darkiplier is dead.”


	9. Remembering Fireflies

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty._

It had lost track

Time had no place in the void, it had no reason. There was no place for reason. The only thing that had any place was hunger. Need. 

_Need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need, need._

There was only place for need and ownership.

Unfortunately, there was not much to own in the void. So, there was only aimless want and need. Only that, and It couldn’t help but wonder what it wanted. Well. Not wondered, it never thought that far, but wanted to know what it wanted. It needed to know what to need.

_Twenty-one. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Twenty-six. Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty. Thirty-one. Thirty-four. Thirty-five. Thirty-six. Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight. Thirty-Nine. Forty._

It had lost track of time, but it had not lost track of numbers. It had not lost track of counting. It clung to the count like a child clinging to a doll. Strange. It couldn’t remember knowing what children were. Or what dolls were. Or why it thought one might be delighted to catch a firefly. But at the moment it seemed very important. Little stuffed rabbit dolls, fireflies, and a child. Very important to it. 

What was a firefly? It had forgotten.

_Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-three. Forty-four. Forty-five. Forty-six. Forty-seven. Forty-eight. Forty-nine. Fifty. Fifty-one. Fifty-two. Fifty-three. Fifty-four. Fifty-five. Fifty-six. Fifty-seven. Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine. Sixty._

In the void, there was no need for rabbits, fireflies, children, or counting, but for some reason it clung to them anyways. For some reason, it couldn’t forget even though it couldn’t remember.

That might be why it came looking when the counting paused. Or maybe it was just because it wanted to remember what a firefly was.

 

* * *

 

 

It took Jackie a few moments to register his brother’s words, before he slowly pushed his phone into his pocket, praying that the Iplier’s surrounding him hadn’t heard Anti’s proclamation. He was good, but he didn’t think he was good enough to take on this many Iplier egos at once if they had heard that a Septic was somehow responsible for Darkiplier’s death.

Or not? Judging from Anti’s ramble, even the glitch was confused about the exact terms of the demon’s death. Either way Jackie needed out of the Iplier building, and he needed out of it now.

Ed’s eyes were fixed on Jackie, “Now what was that all about, son?”

Jackie carefully kept he breath steady as he made eye contact with the other man, “Anti found Marvin beaten to a pulp in a ditch. Said he was nearly dead. Look. . .  I’m sorry for this, and blaming Dark, I just- You know how bad that looked. But now I just got to get to my brother.”

Ed watched him for a long moment, “. . . Out then. But don’t think for a lick that we’re done with you. I think Doc, Bim, and I will be visiting you later tonight.”

Jackie was definitely not looking forward to that, but he went along with it, “Yeah, yeah sure. I got to go through. Have a hospitalized brother to get to.” 

“Just get.”

Jackie didn’t wait to be told twice, and was bolting out the door as fast as he could, and as soon as he was out of sight of the building he pulled back out the pulled out the phone again, dialing Anti’s number again.

“Why the hell did you hang up on me-’’

“Shut up Anti. I was with the Ipliers, if I didn’t cut the call I might be dead right now. Now what the hell do you mean, ‘Darkiplier is dead?’” Jackie took a turn into an alley to escape prying eyes.

“I mean he’s dead. And it is not my fault, he did it-!’’

“What do you mean he did?”

“Man, you need to stop fucking interrupting me. And what I mean is, he did it. I held the knife but he’s the one that slid himself onto it.”

Jackie groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, “He slid himself onto you knife? Are you sure you didn’t just stab him? Why the hell would Dark do that?” 

“Well. . . He wasn’t acting in the. . . most stable way. Like. . . I think he’d snapped. He had a dead baby-’’ 

“Yeah the Ipliers said-’’

“If you don’t stop interrupting me I’m going to stab _you_. Okay. So, he had this dead baby, and seemed to like really fucking care about it. Like. Fuck man. It was kind of disturbing. And you know me. If I think something’s fucked up. . . It’s really fucked. So, he was calling it Maria, and calling himself Mama- Don’t fucking interrupt me Jackie- And. . . He. . .  Okay I might have thrown it at a wall, but he deserved it. You should see Marvin. . . I don’t think he’ll ever be the same.” 

“. . . What did he do when you threw her at the wall?”

“He dragged himself to it, he broke his hip, talking all the way. Like he thought it was still alive. Like he was trying to comfort it. When he got to it he just curled around the thing. I poked him with the knife and then he was just impaling himself.”

Jackie slid down the wall, “. . . Shit. You sure he’s dead?”

“Well pretty fucking sure. Looked extraordinarily like a corpse.”

If Dark really was dead, and Septics were involved. . . life was about to get a lot more dangerous, “Well haven’t you said that you’ve stabbed him and he stayed alive before?”

“I think this time he was trying to make it a little more permeant.” 

“Well . . . We know he can come back from the dead. I’m going to go and try and. . .  Make him wake up? I don’t know if it will work, but we don’t need a group like the Iplier’s breathing down our neck, so. . . I have to try. Besides. I’m a hero. I can’t just leave someone for dead.” Jackie pushed himself back up from the ground.

Anti’s voice had gone almost quiet, “I think you would be singing a different tune if you could see Marvin. But. . . Alright. If it doesn’t work I’ll come and hide the body. Worst comes to worst we could feed it to Robbie. Might be able to hide what happened for a while.”

“. . . I don’t want to think about that Anti, but. . . Alright I’ll let you know if it doesn’t work. Text me the address of where you found him.” And with that Jackie hung up the phone and waited for the text, upon getting it he headed on his way. 

He really hoped this wasn’t as bad of an idea as he thought it was.

* * *

 

When he got the bunker the first thing that hit him was the over whelming sent coper.

The place was coated in blood, so much so that at first Jackie thought that the place just had a red floor, but the illusion was broken when he realized the floor was wet. 

With a churning stomach Jackie realized that the majority of the blood belonged to his little brother. This. . . There was so much blood. So. . . so much. Was there even any left for Marvin to live on? Jackie couldn’t see how. Not with how the blood sloshed at his shoes as he steeped.

Why was he here? Why was he here to try and save the man that did this? That had taken so much blood from his brother? He wanted to be dead anyway, so why not leave him that way? Why not? It’s what he wanted. It’s what he deserved.

But. . . If Jackie didn’t want any more of his brothers to get hurt . . . he had to try.

Slowly he ripped his eyes from the blood and in the corner, he spotted a form laying on the ground wrapped around something. Dark.

Jackie began at a slow pace, “Dark, you know I hate you right? You. . . You’re a monster and you’ve- We’ll my little brother is fucked up now. I haven’t even seen him yet. Because of you. I haven’t seen him because I came to save you.”

He finally managed to get to the body, looking down at the bloody corpse, wrapped around a broken baby, “You . . . you make me sick. But I’m here to save you.” 

Slowly he sat down on the floor and pulled the body into his lap, ignoring the wet blood, “Because I have to. And because I’m a hero. So. . . so, I have to try.”

Jackie’s eyes flicked to the baby, “So. . . Adopted a kid huh? I . . . think that if she had had the chance she would have grown into something wonderful. Think about it. Imagine her, a little girl with brads in her hair, bouncing around a garden trying to catch fireflies. Or. . . I know you play the cello, you teaching her how to play. I think she would have picked up pretty quick, if she’s your daughter she has to be pretty smart.”

Jackie absently ran a hand over Dark’s hair, “I know that won’t happen now. It can’t. but that doesn’t mean other wonderful things can’t happen. If. . . if you give life a chance one day you might see something that will make all this pain worth it? Aren’t you curious about what that might be? Aren’t you? If you don’t open your eyes you’ll never know.”

Silence.

Jackie sighed, “You are stubborn, aren’t you? Well. I guess you would have to be. You are a century old grump demon fueled on spite.” Jackie arranged Dark’s jacket so he wouldn’t have to see the stab wound.

“Why don’t we try this? I’m going to count to a full minute. If you don’t wake up by then. . . I’ll leave and you’ll be Robbie chow. Don’t worry though. I’ll make sure your daughter is buried. So. . . Are you ready to start the count? Okay.” Jackie shifted Dark so the body’s head was propped against his chest, and began to count. 

Why was he doing this again? The monster he was holding didn’t deserve any of this. He didn’t. He. . . But as Jackie looked at the broken baby on the ground he. . . he started to think that maybe there was something left to salvage in Dark.

A. . . a monster couldn’t love something so small. Could it? It wouldn’t go so far for a tiny helpless thing? But Dark did. Dark loved a tiny child, and died over it. Died for a fragile boned little girl. How could a monster do that? How? And Jackie knew Dark was a monster.

He could feel the proof seeping through his clothes and onto his skin. He could see it all around him. His brother’s blood, every drop, confirmed the monstrosity in Dark.

As he neared the end of the count Jackie decide that there was no point in wondering, Dark wasn’t going to come back anyways.

“Sixty.” Jackie sighed, his eyes slipping close, “Well. . . so much for that. I . . . really thought I might be able to save you.”

But when he opened his own eyes again, Dark’s were looking back up at him.


	10. Its Good To Be Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An End
> 
> Thank you so, so much for reading this and I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have.

Jackie felt every muscle in his body clench, as he looked down into the eyes of Dark. This couldn’t end well. He had a violent, grief maddened demon in his lap and no quick way out of the bunker.

So, Jackie did what he did best in these situation; talk, “Hey Darky boy. Have a nice nap?”

Dark didn’t respond though, instead just he blinked drowsily up at Jackie, as if he didn’t understand why Jackie was there or where he was. That didn’t mean anything though. Wasn’t there something about animals being more dangerous when they were disoriented? Jackie knew that was probably because it was a symptom of rabies, and Dark probably didn’t have rabies, but. . . Still. Jackie wasn’t about to risk it.

Jackie tried to stay as still as possible, “Hey you. . . You alright there? You’re looking a little disoriented.” Of course, he was. Five seconds ago he was dead.

Dark maintained eye contact with Jackie for another stressful moment, until he turned his face away scanned his eyes around the room. Eventual his eyes landed on the baby laying a few feet away. 

Dark stared at the body for a few minutes. During this time though, Jackie was afraid to even breath. Dark was literally coated in his brother’s blood, Jackie could feel it seeping into his pants. What’s to say he wouldn’t try and add another Septic to that?

Jackie was shaken from those thoughts though when a little sound left the demon. 

“. . . Hm? What was that. . . ?” The Hero was preparing to try and restrain Dark, but the demon made no move to attack.

Instead he reached out a hand to the baby grasping its little hand, and in a croaked voice said, “I. . . I tried my best. I promise I did.” With that Dark lost conciseness again.

. . . At least he was breathing this time.

With a sigh Jackie stood, holding Dark bridal style in his arms, “You really like putting me through it don’t you. . . ?” 

Well now it seemed that there was only one more thing to do now, and that was to bring Dark back to his family. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second time Dark woke, it was in a soft bed and to the beeping of a heart monitor. Slowly he cracked his eyes open and found himself to be in Dr. Iplier’s clinic, surrounded by sleeping Ipliers. 

They were all there, every last one of them. Bim, Host, Bing, and Silver were in chairs to Dark’s left, and to his right there was the doctor himself, Google, and Wil. Ed though had positioned himself at the door, as if he was trying to act as a guard for his family. And with a quick glance down Dark spotted King and the Jims all asleep around Bing's feet. 

There was the sound of a throat clearing from the corner. 

Dark’s head snapped towards it and he spotted a fully awake Jackieboy Man sitting in the far corner, “What are you-?!”

“Shush.” Jackieboy Man held up a finger to his lips, “You’ll wake them up and they need the sleep.”

Annoyance spiked but Dark hissed in a quitter tone, “What are you doing here?”

“You don’t remember?” Jackie stood and walked to the foot of the bed, “Well you were pretty out of it. But long story short. . . I saved your ass.” 

Dark felt his lips curl back, “And what makes you think I wanted saving?” 

The hero leaned back, rubbing a hand of over his face, “You understand I hate you right? You tortured my baby brother. So. . . Saving you is probably the least enjoyable heroics I’ve ever done. But I didn’t save you for you. I saved you for them.” Jackie motioned to the sleeping Ipliers, “And for my family.”

“I hardly see why that was necessary.”

“They love you Dark. Just. . . Look around you.” Jackie had leaned forward and was griping the foot board, “They’ve been here for a day and a half. None of them would move. I’ve been the one having to go get them food.”

Dark was having a rather hard time not putting this hero in his place. . . But Bim was using Dark’s side as a pillow. It would be a shame to wake him up, “How charitable of you.”

“Not charity. It’s my Job. And. . .” The Hero winced, “You know relations with Septics and Ipliers would have gone to shit if I’d left you after Anti. . .”

“He played no real part in it.”

Jackie snorted, and rose a brow, “Do you think your family would have seen it that way?” When he was met with Dark's silence he nodded, “See? I had to.”

Dark closed his eyes, and wished he could just go back to sleep, “Well you can go now. I’m safely tucked away now.”

“Nope. Not so fast.”

Dark’s eyes snapped open, “What do you mean, ‘Nope’?”

“What I mean is you’re my responsibility now.” Jackie pointed at the demon, “Anything you do from now on is my fault, and any pain you’re in is. . . it’s also my fault. So I’m going to . . . I’m going to make things better. Somehow.”

Dark could only stare at the Septic, “You are insane.”

“No I’m not.” Jackie locked eyes with Dark, “You’re all broken up inside. And I forced you back into it. I also forced the world back under your mercy. So. . . So, I have to do as much as I can to take care of both you and the world. I mean- I still hate your slimy black guts but. . . It’s my job to make sure they remain intact now.”

Sometimes Dark wondered if heroes all were like this or if it was just Jackie and Silver, “And how are you planning to do that?”

Jackie noticeably brightened, he had evidently already put a lot of thought into this, “Well I already have a list of psychologist for you to pick from and I contacted your PA, Frank. He said he would cover all your work for a while. Seemed pretty pissed when I told him what happened-’’

“He is always ‘pissed’.” 

“- But he also seemed really worried. They all were worried. So. . . Yeah.” Jackie rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m. . . I’m hoping that if I help you, you might not be so. . . So destructive. To the world.”

Dark really wished he was still asleep, “We live in a world created by the imagination of others. None of us are our own creation. So why should we care for it?

“You cared about Maria.”

He felt like he’d been punched, “How dare you-’’

“You cared about her. And she was probably nothing more than some mother's imaging of what her child would be like.” Jackie pushed on, “Just because this world is a thoughtform world. . . Just because this is a world were people’s imaginations are dumped. . . it doesn’t mean, it means any less. Did Maria matter to you?”

His heart clenched in a painful way, “Yes. She mattered very much to me.”

Jackie nodded, “Then the world matters.” 

The demon turned his eyes too his family, and watched them breath, “. . . It’ll take a lot of work. To fix me.” 

“I’m a big boy. I can handle it.” And maybe he could, with the help of the eleven Ipliers scattered around him.

Dark felt something close to amusement in his chest, as he allowed himself to remember rabbits, fireflies, children, and counting, “I’m sure you can.”

Maybe it was a good thing to be awake.


End file.
